Relic Chunky file in Age of Empires IV

Extraction and unpacking of game archives and compression, encryption, obfuscation, decoding of unknown files
Red Khan
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2021 12:48 pm

Relic Chunky file in Age of Empires IV

Post by Red Khan »

Greetings!
I'm trying to extract unit dialogue files (the ones that are used when they are clicked or given orders) from Age of Empires IV files and have run into some difficulties.
I've found out sga archives named SoundSpeech%civ_name%.sga, which are a format of the Relic's Essence Engine archive, and been able to unpack them using the archive tool for Company of Heroes 3. Inside there is are .spd files with each unit's name and folders containing wem files.

spd is a binary file, but when opening this file with text editor I can see that the first line is "Relic Chunky" and some lines contain the names of the above mentioned wem files.

Googling, I found out that Relic Chunky is yet another format of Essence Engine. But I've not been able to find any reference to specifically spd files, or any tool that could read them. I suspect that these files contain the exact conditions when each file is used and I need that information.

I'm not a modder, so maybe someone with more knowledge of the Essence Engine can point me out to a way to decipher these files. I'm attaching one of these files to this post (had to rename the extension to txt since the forum engine won't allow spd). Any help will be appreciated, thanks in advance!
aluigi
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Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2014 9:32 pm

Re: Relic Chunky file in Age of Empires IV

Post by aluigi »

Just answered in this topic:
viewtopic.php?p=67882#p67882
Red Khan
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2021 12:48 pm

Re: Relic Chunky file in Age of Empires IV

Post by Red Khan »

aluigi wrote:Just answered in this topic:
viewtopic.php?p=67882#p67882

Thanks a lot, it worked.

But what i got is just more binary files:

Code: Select all

.
└── DATA
    ├── RFCI
    │   └── 00000000.dat
    ├── RNEW
    │   └── 00000002.vap
    └── ROBJ
        └── 00000004.vap


I guess 00000000.dat is the one I need, because when I open in text editor I can see the file names, but the rest is incomprehensible.
aluigi
Site Admin
Posts: 12984
Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2014 9:32 pm

Re: Relic Chunky file in Age of Empires IV

Post by aluigi »

Nothing interesting, just a sort of table followed by filenames.
Red Khan
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2021 12:48 pm

Re: Relic Chunky file in Age of Empires IV

Post by Red Khan »

No more info besides filenames?
What I'm seeking is conditions/triggers under which each file is played in the game. Something like unit ordered to attack, to move, to stop etc.
aluigi
Site Admin
Posts: 12984
Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2014 9:32 pm

Re: Relic Chunky file in Age of Empires IV

Post by aluigi »

Use a hex editor to open the file. Maybe you can spot what you are looking for.